Tour through Blogland. {Sieb Fam}

Meet Alyssa. Her writing is honest and real. Her words inspire and challenge. And, y’all, her blog is gorgeous {really. It’s absolutely beautiful — the photos, the design, it’s just so pretty!}. And she is the kind of friend that makes me immensely grateful for this blogging community. She labored alongside us in prayer as we pleaded for our Sylvie and I have been honored to pray with her for her own baby girl. When I asked her to join this series, I knew her words would bless us as we read. However, I wasn’t prepared for the way she would write my heart. I’ve been wrestling with this very subject in my own life and she articulates it so very well.

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Hi, y’all. I’m honored that Jenny invited me over here to her bloggerhood. My name is Alyssa, and I run a little blog called Sieb Fam with posts ranging from light-hearted subjects like inexpensive DIYs to deeper topics like adoption and humanitarianism. Since Jenny told me I could write on any topic I want….dangerous, Jenny, daaaaangerous, I’ve written a post on something the Lord has been pressing on my heart lately. Thanks for reading!

A few months ago I finally read the classic “To Kill A Mockingbird”. My sister-in-law was due with my nephew who was to be named Eli Atticus after one of the main characters, so I figured it was time to find out what the hype was all about. There was one spot in the book that really got to me: a group of white church women were working to support a missionary in Africa while actively participating in racism in their home town and even ignoring the plight of an obviously innocent man convicted simply because of the color of his skin. While there is reeking hypocrisy in this illustration, there is also something else. There is the Christian club. The missionary is in, the convicted man is out.

We all want to feel like we belong. Garden clubs, country clubs, gangs, fraternities, even the girls-rule-boys-drool tree house clubs. Everyone wants to feel like they belong.

But what about a Christian club? We bond under the name of Jesus, right? Brothers and sisters together, right? But are we off? This is some ugliness that God has been undoing in my own life.

Social media is ripe with it. When a company promotes something we feel is unbiblical, we band together to boycott them. When a Christian-owned company seems to be oppressed because of the beliefs, we band together to keep them in business. When a fellow Christian is attacked because of their faith, we start petitions. And above all, we share it on Facebook and Twitter and everywhere possible- club members unite! Come out of the woodwork Christians, your club needs you.

But what are we really telling people? To me, it seems to scream: “You don’t belong! You’re not one of us!”

Clubs are formed for the good of the members. To serve them. But guess what y’all? Jesus didn’t die to form a club. He died to bring the lost to Him to form a Body. Then He gave that Body a mission: Go be His feet- Don’t just sit on your computer advocating; take the beautiful news of redemption and do life with people. Go be His hands- Don’t busy yourself making your club nicer and more tight, go love on people. Mutually encourage one another to love and good deeds. Get messy doing life with people. Not just because you want to make them a Christian, but because you are a Christian.

I just returned from a trip to Japan to visit a dear friend who moved there with her husband as missionaries. While Japan is one of the most unreached people groups when it comes to the Gospel, my girlfriend, her husband, and their church-planting team are not working to build a mega-church. They are far more interested in what they call “missional community”. In layman’s terms, this means that they aren’t splitting up evangelism and church activities. They spend their time doing life with their neighbors and their fellow Christians all in the same setting. They don’t expect people to join “their club” before integrating them into their lives. They’re having community meals with the people around them while opening up about the imperfections of their own personal lives. My friend told me, “I’m not interested in converting anyone. That’s God’s job.” Don’t get me wrong, she’s open and honest about the Gospel since it flavors her entire life, but her new friends know she loves them for them- not for the sake of trying to change them. And you should see how effected these people are. When she shares a recent struggle in her marriage; suddenly, in a culture of privacy, they are starting to be willing to open up about their own marriage. Like Jesus hanging with the prostitute and tax collectors, they can smell the aroma of Christ’s love.

I would never presume to be included in an exclusive garden club; Lord knows I don’t belong. But aren’t we basically doing the same thing when we set ourselves above others? By doing this, we make sure they know they don’t belong. Did we forget our roots? NONE of us belong. No. One. None of us have achieved some level of goodness that earned us a relationship with the God of the universe and secured our eternity with Him. None of us are able to stay pure enough to be part of that family. It’s not a Who’s Who Club of the Righteous. It’s all grace! ALL GRACE!

If we present ourselves as that messy, broken group that is the Body of Christ only because of HIM, then we will attract other messy, broken people which just so happens to be all of us.

So next time we share that link or that status, maybe we should ask ourselves if we just put out a club memo that excludes or a call for love that attracts the broken to the broken who are both desperately in need of grace.

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Comments

What a beautiful and refreshing post. You have pegged my heart so well. My husband resigned from his position at the church so we could pursue missional community. There is a lot of "labels" out there but it has completely opened our eyes. It was hard "leaving the club", really hard. In fact many well meaning people still don't get why we did and think we have fallen off the path or something. What you wrote here was so encouraging to me!!

This is so beautiful. So true as well. I have a Bible study at my home….I have several women from several different denominations. We all love Jesus. We all want to serve and know Him better. One woman even comes who I'm not sure of her salvation. It is so exciting to just love her and encourage her in questions, pointing her to Jesus – praying for HIM to work in her heart. It isn't about the "club" you attend – it is what you believe about Jesus and inviting others to join you. Loving all people.

You said it, Alyssa. Amen. Here in Ethiopia, we too believe that the community in which a church will one day planted is where you as a family, as couple, as imperfect friends need to be planted first. Your lives, your interactions, the way you handle conflicts, the way you help your neighbors….it all makes people wonder why? The entire world is in the same "club", and living for Christ as a part of that group rather than somehow thinking we are above that group…well, it only creates trust. It's an unconditional love that genuinely cares for all…integration before transformation. 🙂 Beautiful blog! -Mindi Aleme

his resonated with me so much. I'm thankful for people who are transparent and brave that will share things that most people will not say. Christianity is seen in a negative way by so many unbelievers because of how we do things that don't seem to line up with the Bible, but line up with how we believe things should be. We are here to love people and share the grace and love of Jesus. We are not here to judge, condemn, and exclude. Thank you for this!

Hi there! I'm Jenny, wife to Dave and momma to four littles. My desire for this blog is to tell the stories God is writing in my own life with the purpose of encouraging you, dear reader, to seek joy in the midst of the ordinary and to relentlessly pursue Hope even when brokenness is abundant.